The 10th-ranked Iowa field-hockey squad will travel to Kent, Ohio, this weekend to play a pair of matches against Drexel on Saturday and Kent State on Sept. 22.

Iowa will be without freshman Stephanie Norlander this weekend; she will compete for Team Canada in the Pan-American Cup in Mendoza, Argentina. The forward is tied with sophomore Natalie Cafone for the lead in goals for the team with 4 and is second to Cafone in points with 8.

Norlander is the youngest member of the Canadian team; she will be joined by former Hawkeye standout Jess Barnett, who is also from North Vancouver. The two attended the same high school.
Drexel was ranked No. 17 in the preseason poll but has since dropped out of the top 20 after a 3-2 start. Head coach Denise Zelenak will lead her Dragons into the matchup with the 4-2 Hawkeyes.

Iowa will face a familiar face in Kent State assistant coach Heather Schnepf. The four-year assistant played at Iowa under head coach Tracey Griesbaum. During her senior year in 2006, she capped off a decorated résumé, winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second-straight year — only the third person all-time to accomplish twin back-to-back awards. She was also a first-team and WomensFieldHockey.com All-American during her senior campaign.

Schnepf and her fellow coaches have led the Golden Flashes to a 4-2. Kent State has won its last two matches by a combined score of 17-1.

The Hawkeyes are 5-1 all-time against Kent State and defeated it, 3-1, last year at Grant Field. Iowa also defeated Drexel on the road last season, 3-1.

“Both programs are really well-coached and really organized,” Griesbaum said. “We’ve played them both before, [Kent State] a lot more — so we’re pretty familiar with each other’s programs. It’ll be great.”